Re: Mini-ITX PC's a the future of HA (was Re: X-10 Mister House Motion sensor problems)

[Marc F Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 13 Jun 2006 11:16:23 -0400, "Robert Green"
<ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<kMidnbkcBNoMQBPZnZ2dnUVZ_sGdnZ2d@xxxxxxx>:

>
>> HomeSeer was born a software program that interfaced with
>> the Napco Gemini P9600 security system.  Rich said at the time
>> that his goal was to develop an app that would add features to a
>> panel-based alarm system.  He chose the P9600 because it had a
>> reasonably easy to manage (if poorly documented) serial interface > which
>allowed 2-way communication and control.
>
>The key here was to "add features."  At that time the power of the PC was
>still hard to assess.  But the potential for interoperability was there in
>the 2-way interfaces.  IIRC, about the only HA game in town back then was
>X-10.

For whom was "the power of the PC [] hard to assess" ???

IIRC = If I  Recall Correctly . It may be that you recall correctly what you
knew, and just did know what he "HA game[s] in town" were.

For example (the example I know, there are others) by 1999, Savoy's
CyberHouse had reached version 3.0 on a Windows-based  multiple-server,
multiple-client over TCP/IP or RS-485 home automation application
(CyberHouse) that came bundled 'free' with Elk Magic module MM443s and sold
for ~$200 + addons in the full version. They also offered their software
preinstalled on a rack mount 233mhz PC.

Cyberhouse supported multiple security panels including NAPCO by 1997!

By 1999/2000, CyberHouse supported (at least):

Three different manufacturers of security panels via RS-232
At least three different hardwired lighting systems
At least one full-featured panel JDS
X-10 via at least 4 different controllers
IR via two at least manufacturers
Audio voice
Video
modem
email
paging
pool controllers
weather
at least two different non-X10 thermostats,
breaker panel AC power monitoring and control for price-based energy control

and on and on.

X-10 "the only game in town"? Help us to understand what your words mean.

CyberHouse _was_ in 1999 what HomeSeer became (and Premise systems tried and
apparently failed at).

The key to Homeseer's success seems to have been its management of support
though third-party plug-ins, a strong user community, and (now) and a
distribution base that sells its software pre-installed on a PC (i.e.,
specialized hardware) for ca $2700. The later is the business model that
Savoy adopted exclusively for CyberHouse ca 2000 in an unsuccessful attempt
to rein in support costs.

Plus ça change ... ... Marc

Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org